rubato, greenwood avenue.

to be honest, i would never have made my way to rubato if not for restaurant week. it is just so out of the way! thank goodness for the downtown line, though; else i would never have considered going for restaurant week as well. located at greenwood avenue, it's one of those places that people drive to, not take public transport to. we walked about 10-15 minutes from the nearest train station, which wasn't too bad.



i've never been to that part of bukit timah, so rubato is a restaurant that i've never been to. it's one of those places that are just slightly under-the-radar (coupled with the fact that it has a not exactly convenient locale). decided to try it for restaurant week because well, restaurant week is about trying new places, after all. adventure spirit!





we went with basically no expectations, but the food pleasantly surprised us. it was a three course meal, with two appetisers. they started us off with focaccia, with an accompanying olive oil and balsamic vinegar dip. because of whole 30, i haven't had bread in a month. to break the bread fast over this focaccia was completely worth it. it was toasty, warm and just slightly dense, giving it excellent texture. i've never had focaccia that i liked this much. upon enquiring, we were told that the bread was made in-house. of course we had seconds- the bread basket was replaced almost instantly after we'd finished. it was so good that we asked if we could buy a loaf of it back, and they did let us, charging $15 for quite a large loaf.



it was a good start to a meal, and the rest of it didn't disappoint as well. the first appetiser was angel hair pasta in truffle cream (the menu said scallops, so i wasn't expecting pasta- but i guess they are an italian place, after all). served cold, it was an excellent starter. it reminded me of indo mee, actually, but in a good way. i especially loved the salty kombu bits.



the next appetiser was a chicken consommé. it was served plainly, but its taste more than made up for it. warm and comforting, it set us up for the next part of the meal.



two choices for mains, but both of us decided on the wagyu flank, medium rare, instead of the barramundi. premium japanese wagyu flank over truffled potato purée and grilled vegetables, drizzled with veal jus. the menu described the veal jus as "intensely flavourful", and they were right on all counts. it was deliciously thick and caramelised, reminding me a bit of char siew sauce. awesome paired with the wagyu flank (i'm usually the type to cut out the fatty bits, but the fats were so melt-in-the-mouth and flavourful i ate them with no regrets). definitely the highlight of the meal.



the meal ended with dessert. i'd initially asked if they could replace my dessert with coffee, but they didn't allow that. no regrets though- the dessert was a small piece of tiramisu that i easily finished, because it was so good. the ladyfingers were soaked with liquor, cutting through the creaminess. loved that it wasn't too sweet as well.

service was attentive and pretty good. when we asked to buy the loaf of focaccia back, they charged it separately from our main meal, just so we wouldn't have to pay service charge on the bread! that was something they didn't have to do, and it was really nice of them to go the extra mile. the descriptions of each dish were also given, and the timings between each course were surprisingly quick.

loved the place and the food, though i would've liked more of the wagyu flank on my plate. i did end up surprisingly full, though. checked out their normal menu, and prices seem quite reasonable as well. would probably come back to try their main menu- i spied mussel pots on other people's tables that look good!





rubato
21 greenwood avenue
https://www.facebook.com/rubato.sg/